Happy Cinco de Mayo / The Shape of Water day, Fiends! There was pretty much no contest when it came to picking a modern Creature movie (although we did just discover 1978’s Slithis which might have gone over better with Kim, but whatcha gonna do?) and we’re here today to wave goodbye to the monster we love by discussing Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water (2017).A movie that, according to Kim, is subtitled: The Fishman Fucketh 🤣
The Universal Classic Monsters have carried us through the years, shocking and horrifying us, but also pulling at our heart strings. You can’t help but feel sympathy for Frankenstein’s Creature as the villagers chase him through town with their torches, or a slight pain in your chest as Van Helsing drives a stake through the heart of Dracula. Who among us hasn’t shed a tear as the Wolf Man comes face to face with fate, or when The Phantom hangs his head in despair at the loss of his one true love. Sure, these creatures were always designed to terrify us, but buried under that fear was always a misunderstood monster looking for love. And no monster signified that more than The Creature From The Black Lagoon.
Zeroing in on that unrequited, forbidden love, Guillermo del Toro brought the Gill Man back to the big screen with The Shape of Water, a movie that would go on to win 4 Academy Awards (despite being an overly cute movie about a woman who has sex with a 7-foot-tall fish). The success of The Shape of Water further proved that the Universal Classic Monsters were still the reigning champions, and that any notion of a Dark Universe should be left to creative filmmakers who are still reshaping and reworking these iconic stories today.
Even now, there are 3 Universal Classic Monster movies in production; Proof that these monsters never die and will always have a place in the pantheon of Horror Heavyweights. So, join us as we close out our Graveyard Smash podcast series with a bubbly discussion on the legacy of the The Gill Man, and the future of the Universal Classic Monsters, in a (somewhat one-sided) appreciation of Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water.
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RELEASED:
May 5th, 2023
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